Proverbs 30:24-28 Little things, Part V

²⁴ “Four things on earth are small,
    yet they are extremely wise:
²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;
²⁶ hyraxes are creatures of little power,
    yet they make their home in the crags;
²⁷ locusts have no king,
    yet they advance together in ranks;
²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,
    yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

We've been studying the hyrax from verse 26, and we mentioned that they instinctively know they are not powerful or strong, so they go to the rocks for shelter and safety.
The hyrax is not ashamed to know that he needs a power greater than himself. We, too, should welcome the chance to admit that we need a Power greater than ourselves.
It's very tempting to have an "I can do it myself" attitude . . . but in reality, we need God!

Do we have a hiding place in the Father? What do we do when Satan pursues us? Do we try to go it alone? Oh, that is a recipe for failure! Do we depend on human intelligence and knowledge? Why not turn to the One who knows all?  Why not call to Him, as the psalmist did:

Psalm 61:2 “From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” 

When you may travel to another city and stay in a hotel or inn there, do you look on the door of your own room, to see the fire escape plan? It is always pictured there, with a nice big arrow that shows you where you are. You can tell the evacuation route; it's the route you need to know in case there is a fire. It's not very probable that there will be a fire, but it's awfully important to know, just in case a fire breaks out. The plan needs to be in place.
Whether it is from situations or from Satan, we need to have a plan of escape, too. What is our escape? Is it in a bottle or pill bottle? Is it the television? Our friends?
Or is it our prayer closet?

Matthew 6:6 “when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” 

I'd like to challenge all of us today in our private time with our Father, to read Psalm 91, and then earnestly pray. I believe we will be changed when we are done. 

Prayer Requests

Its' time again today to join each other at God's throne, and share our prayer requests and our praises for answered prayers.
Please take a moment to leave a comment if there is something that we can pray with you about, and look over on the prayer page as well.
It is a privilege to be able to pray together, and our Father is pleased when we care for each other in this way.
Let's pray.

Proverbs 30:24-28, Little Things, Part IV

²⁴ “Four things on earth are small,
    yet they are extremely wise:
²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;
²⁶ hyraxes are creatures of little power,
    yet they make their home in the crags;
²⁷ locusts have no king,
    yet they advance together in ranks;
²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,
    yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

The next "little thing" is a bit of a mystery . . . some translations call it a hyrax, some call it a coney.

The best I can tell from studying this, is that the early English translators knew about conies, which are also called rock rabbits. They probably thought they had it correct, since the verse mentions that they make their home in the "crags" which are rocky places. Hyraxes are tiny hoofed mammals -- they have short bodies and plump heads, and they live in groups among the rocks. They are active during the day  (except for their cousins the tree hyraxes, which are nocturnal in habit) and are vegetarians in their diet. 
They are not very powerful; they are not very strong. They survive by knowing where to take refuge -- they live among the rocks and burrow into them when a predator comes looking for them. In order to get at them, you need to knock down a mountain of rocks!
You can see from the picture that the hyrax is a cute, soft, cuddly-looking animal. But what makes them so attractive, also makes them vulnerable. There's that issue of them not being powerful or strong, right?
We Christians are sometimes weakest at our strong points, too. Let's look at some examples:
You can speak well in groups. Now, that is indeed a gift, but it can be a problem, too, if your mouth gets you into trouble! Perhaps promising more than you can deliver is your Achilles heel. Or perhaps talking more than you are listening to others is your downfall.
Our best attribute can be our biggest liability.
Let's look at another example:
Do you have the gift of a wonderful memory? Super! Nice thing to have . . . except when it makes you unable to forget your shortcomings and sins -- or maybe those of someone else.
Do you have an outgoing personality? Wonderful! It's nice to be able to make others feel comfortable and valued, and to reach out to others in friendship . . . except when you get hurt easily, when someone rejects you.
Since the hyrax realizes its own weaknesses, it has an advantage. It knows instinctively that it must depend on something greater, larger than itself for safety and security. It goes to the rock!
Are we aware of our own weaknesses, as well as our strengths? What sins trouble us most often? What things get us off the path, and sidetracked from God's will? We need to depend on something greater, larger than ourselves for our safety and security . . . we need to go to the Rock!

Ps 62:6-7 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Friday Slowdown

For today's Slowdown, I hope that you receive a blessing from this song. It has meant a great deal to me in situations in my life right now.

Proverbs 30:24-28, Little things, Part III

²⁴ “Four things on earth are small,
    yet they are extremely wise:
²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;
²⁶ hyraxes are creatures of little power,
    yet they make their home in the crags;
²⁷ locusts have no king,
    yet they advance together in ranks;
²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,
    yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

I thought we should close this study of verse 25 with some facts about ants that might inspire us.

In the ant hill, and outside of the colony, too, ants work with what they've been given. They don't stand around the entrance to the mound, carping and complaining about how bad they have it. Remember Joseph, after he'd been sold into captivity by his brothers? He could have sat and moped about how badly they'd treated him. Instead, he worked with what he'd been given: he was second in command to Potiphar, to the prison supervisor, and then to Pharaoh, but each time he worked hard, was an exemplary employee, and God blessed his faithfulness. 
Ecclesiastes 9:10 tells us "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might."  Accept what you've been given and roll with it! What we are doing today is our training ground for what He has in mind for us tomorrow!

Here's another thought -- ants don't wear out easily. They keep on going just like the Energizer Bunny. We must not lose heart if the going gets hard. We must keep on, for His glory. (I'm preaching to myself here.) - Paul says in Galatians 6:9, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." If we stir up those gifts that God gave us, we can model the same endurance that the ants do . . . Paul also wrote: “Fan into flame the gift of God that is in you.”  We have each been given gifts that we can use in working for the kingdom; we must keep on keeping on.

It's an interesting thought, that we are reaping today what we sowed yesterday. That sure makes me want to be careful what I'm sowing, how about you? Let's work with what we've been given, and don't lose heart - keep on going!

Proverbs 30:24-28, Little things, Part II

²⁴ “Four things on earth are small,
    yet they are extremely wise:
²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;
²⁶ hyraxes are creatures of little power,
    yet they make their home in the crags;
²⁷ locusts have no king,
    yet they advance together in ranks;
²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,
    yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

Yesterday we talked a little about the ant, and today we want to continue with thoughts of preparation. How should we as Christians use our time management skills? What should we be prepared for?

One thing we should be prepared for is temptations.  If we don't prepare ourselves for temptations, we will easily fall into Satan's traps. But He has promised strength and wisdom for these situations:

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."

 Another thing that we need to be prepared for is trials. We know from the Bible that we will encounter trials and persecution as we live in this world.

James 1:14 "but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed."
James 1:2-3 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."

Matthew 5:10-12 "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

We also must be prepared for the second coming of our Lord Jesus.

 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:25-28

1 Peter 1:13  Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

And we must be prepared to tell others about Him.

1 Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Wow, I think the ants have it right . . . we do need to prepare!

Proverbs 30:24-28, Little things, Part I

²⁴ “Four things on earth are small,
    yet they are extremely wise:
²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;
²⁶ hyraxes are creatures of little power,
    yet they make their home in the crags;
²⁷ locusts have no king,
    yet they advance together in ranks;
²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,
    yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

When I was small, I thought the very best Christmas and birthday presents were the huge ones. Not the medium-sized, not the large ones, but the ginormous ones. My parents would always tell me that "good things come in small packages" but I didn't think much of that adage at the time.

But we do grow up, and I think so, now. (Grin)

One 90 year old man is the beginning of an entire race of people.  Remember Abraham?
One small shepherd boy becomes the king that is a "man after God's own heart."  David, right? 
Even the church of today began as a small band of twelve disciples who followed Christ.

Our Father has a way of putting immense value in something small, and of teaching us important truths from small things, too.

The first creature in this passage is the ant -- we may not think he is very strong, since we are so much larger and can smoosh him with our shoe. But he is universally touted as very wise, because he prepares for the future, for the unknown. Remember the old cartoon short about the ant and the grasshopper? (Grin)
In other words, he plans ahead!
The ant has about 250,000 brain cells in his tiny head. That's a quarter of a million, and it sounds like a lot. 
Consider this, tho, the human brain contains about 10,000 million! A colony of 40,000 ants have about the same brain power as a human being!
But the ant does something with his little brain that we can learn from -- time management! Yep, I know, the ant doesn't call it that. In fact, he doesn't think about it much at all. He just works hard to prepare for harder seasons . . . just because it is spring or summer now, doesn't mean that winter is not coming.
We humans talk a lot about time management. But we also make some mistakes on managing one of our most precious resources: time.
We obsess about what happened yesterday.
We worry about tomorrow.
Or, we simply live for the moment, not acting wisely about the past or the future.

Why not change our attitude and adjust our thinking – and put things in place for the future?

We'll talk more about this tomorrow!